5 façons de dire « de rien »

What does “je t’en prie” mean in French?

Je t’en prie (formally je vous en prie) is the gracious answer to merci. It also does a second job that catches learners out: said before someone acts, it means “go ahead, please do” — the line you get when you and a stranger reach for the same door at once. Literally it is “I beg you of it”, which is why it sounds warmer and more formal than de rien.

De rien, avec plaisir, il n’y a pas de quoi and ce n’est rien all cover the same ground after a thank-you; je vous en prie is the one that sounds most formal, and it is what you hear from shop staff and waiters. The spelling trips people up: it is prie, the present tense of prier, not pris.